Happy November!

Today is November 2nd and I am very proud to announce that I have my Thanksgiving menu all planned out! Drumroll please...chicken strips, cheese cubes, fruit/veggies and dip, crackers and spreadable stuff, sliced deli meat--you get the picture. It's our 2nd Annual Finger-Food Thanksgiving Feast! It was such a hit last year that we are repeating it. Honestly, last year was completely an accident. We save our traveling for Christmas so there's just 5 of us to feed. My options are to cook a giant dinner, complete with all the trimmings (can't leave anything out) or go out to eat. I *can* cook a complete dinner with all the trimmings but I just don't want to. It takes forever, gives me stress and is usually gobbled up in about half the time it takes to say the blessing! Meal planning last year was done the night before, walking around the grocery store with the kids picking out random things we wanted to eat. Oddly enough, they were all finger foods. Thanksgiving day was relaxed and casual. I put out the food (not much to cook), and we grazed like cattle all day long, while we watched tv show reruns on dvd. We ate in the living room, on paper plates, with plastic silverware and plastic cups. The biggest stress-maker was keeping the dog away from our plates. It was the best Thanksgiving dinner yet. And since the idea of "normal" is not embraced well by my family, we are making it a tradition. I hope to post pictures and a complete menu/agenda closer to the big event (or shortly after).

November also begins month 2 of my participation in the 3 in 30 Challenge. Last month I picked goals that weren't really hard, but they just needed my attention and a bit of motivation. This month, the goals I chose are different in that one of them is purely selfish, one is going to happen with or without me, and the other is something I'm way behind with. 

1. Make 1 thing that I have pinned on Pinterest (selfish)--I'm a compulsive pinner. I have only ever made 1 thing that I have pinned (a battery box) and if I were to be completely honest, my husband made it, I just told him how to do it. So this month, I'm going to get crafty and make something--food doesn't count. 

I'm considering this:

Source: fey-next2heaven.blogspot.com via Melanie on Pinterest

or this:

Source: manditremayne.blogspot.com via Melanie on Pinterest

2. Drag out and organize winter clothes (with or without me)--It's that crazy time of year in the South where you will be wearing shorts one day and a heavy coat the next. I turn on the heat at night and a/c during the day. My closet is great. I don't rotate clothes based on the seasons. What's in there is in there all year, or until I outgrow it, stain it, or wear it out. My children, however, need me to get out their winter clothes and sort, toss, donate, etc. This is going to happen with our without me. If I want it done right, I may as well do it myself. So by the end of the month, the kids' closets will be winterized. Can I just say in advance that I HATE THIS GOAL! But it must be done. All dreading aside, it *will* be done.

3. Get back on track with Bible in 90 Days and finish before the end of the year--I started this challenge long enough ago that I should already be finished. I thought it would be easy...what's 12 pages a day? It's not easy and I'm ashamed to admit that I have let life get in the way. I have made excuses...I don't have time (yes I do), I can't focus (try prayer and coffee), I will make it up tomorrow (no I won't). So no more excuses. I'm picking up where I left off (2 Chronicles) and just moving on. I won't finish in 90 days, more like 150 days. But I will finish, and that's what is most important.

So there you have it. My 3 in 30 November goals, out here for the world to see. Thanks for stopping by! What are your goals for November?